Abstract
Without a shift to renewable energy sources, climate change will have adverse effects on many terrestrial and aquatic species. On the other hand, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy will have different effects on wildlife, some negative. To protect biota, while navigating the complexities surrounding the transition to renewable energy, will require sharing knowledge between energy experts and wildlife experts, as well as policy makers and resource managers. This special issue is intended to advance the conversation. Interactions between renewable energy facilities and fauna are complex. Each source of renewable energy has its own conservation concerns, and each presents its own set of opportunities for mitigation; Other concerns and mitigations are shared. In this overview, we review climate risks to biota, clarify the complementarities among renewables for the conservation community, and summarize research on energy effects on biota for the energy community. The papers invited for this special issue address fossil (coal, oil, natural gas) and renewable energy (terrestrial biomass energy, hydropower, marine-hydrokinetic energy, wind energy, solar energy) and affected fauna. We hope that the results of these studies, and others like them, set us on a path toward low-carbon energy systems that provide society with energy while protecting future biodiversity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 109354 |
| Journal | Biological Conservation |
| Volume | 263 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2021 |
Funding
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Partial funding was provided by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (Program Managers Kristen Johnson, Alicia Lindauer, and Andrea Bailey). We greatly appreciate a collegial review provided by Dr. Kristine Moody. We thank Dr. S. Grodsky for a thorough and helpful review. We also thank Dr. Rocio Uria-Martinez for sharing expertise in energy science and EIA data. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy . Partial funding was provided by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (Program Managers Kristen Johnson, Alicia Lindauer, and Andrea Bailey). We greatly appreciate a collegial review provided by Dr. Kristine Moody. We thank Dr. S. Grodsky for a thorough and helpful review. We also thank Dr. Rocio Uria-Martinez for sharing expertise in energy science and EIA data. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| DOE Public Access Plan | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Bioenergy Technologies Office | |
| Government of South Australia |
Keywords
- Biodiversity
- Climate change
- Conservation
- Ecological footprint
- Energy siting
- Fish
- Life cycle assessment
- Renewable energy
- Wildlife
